How a reading session on Mahatma Gandhi ended in a fiasco in Uttar Pradesh schools

Mahindra Verma, 11, a class VI student of Government school in Bastauli, is confused as why he was asked to read a book on Mahatama Gandhi last week. He was told the Governor Anandiben Patel would be visiting the school and he would have to read an extract from a book on Mahatama Gandhi.

“Woh to aaye nahi. (She did not come). But we were asked to read a chapter on Mahatama Gandhi for over an hour. It was very boring. The teacher asked us not to talk and maintain silence even when we did not want to read the book,” the eleven year old told this reporter when he met him outside his school.

He seemed to have no idea that country is celebrating the 150th year of his birth anniversary. His knowledge about Gandhi is limited and sketchy. He only knows that Gandhi led india’s freedom struggle and was the ‘grandfather’ of Rahul Gandhi.

Did the teachers say that Mahatama Gandhi was Rahul Gandhi’s grandfather?

“The teacher did not tell us anything. He just said bring a book on Mahatama Gandhi and we will read this in class because the Governor is coming to our school. My father bought a book for Rs 75 and I took that book to the class on October 2,” he said adding that he had not read more than two pages.

“The book may be somewhere in the house. I do not know where it is now because this week the teacher did not ask me to bring that book to school.,” he said as he ran off with his friends.

This is the ground reality of Yogi Government’s much-hyped celebration of 150th year of Mahatama Gandhi’s birth anniversary. A 36-hour marathon special session of the Uttar Pradesh Legislature was convened to commemmorate the landmark. Opposition parties boycotted the session saying that killers of Mahatama Gandhi were shedding crocodile tears for Mahatama Gandhi.

In state-run school Governor Anandiben Patel led the campaign under the aegis of 'Padhe Lucknow, Badhe Lucknow' (Lucknow Reads, Lucknow Progresses). She herself went to state-run school in Nishatganj where she spent over an hour with the students and took part in the reading session.  The Governor along with students read about the life of Mahatma Gandhi and about Indian Freedom Struggle. Under this campaign the students were to read out from a book other than text books in the school.

“This campaign is meaningless unless we make students read about Mahatama Gandhi first and regularly. Once a month we ought to ask students to read a book other than fiction and fairy tales. But this was lip-service bordering on farce, conceded a teacher in Government College, Nishatganj, where the Governor had spent an hour.

Even the parents feel this was a futile exercise. “On September 30, I received a text message saying that my ward should attend class with a book on Mahatama Gandhi which she must then proceed to read aloud in school. I did not have a book on Gandhi so I was forced to buy one,” admitted Eric Thompson, whose daughter studies in a prestigious convent school of the city.

Another parent Kamal Kumar recalled how he had initially tried to borrow books from office colleagues. But none of them had a book on Gandhi at home. So, he too was forced to buy a book, he said which a chuckle.

“My son might have read a few pages and now it is gathering dust,” he said.